We're disengaging the cloaking device to bring you news of legislation sponsored by Sen. Michael Brubaker, R-Lancaster, that would set up a nine-member commission to track the federal stimulus cash soon to be fire-hosed upon our fair Commonwealth.

Under Brubaker's proposal, four members of Gov.Ed's cabinet; four legislative appointees and one member of the great unwashed masses (in which case, we'll recommend our numbers-conscious Uncle Herbert McGroover Capitol Ideas, CPA).

Brubaker's bill also calls for the creation of a publicly accessible Web site allowing people with entirely too much times to track how the state consumes Washington's manna. Ten other states, including neighboring Ohio and New York have already set up rudimentary sites about the federal stimulus.

"Establishing a Web site to allow the public to easily track the federal stimulus funding coming into Pennsylvania makes great sense," said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, as he abruptly muscled his way into Brubaker's press release. "This is in line with our ongoing efforts to make state government more accessible and accountable."

We're on the road for the next couple of days, so posts will be sporadic at best.

But because we're all about serving our readers, we just wanted to pass along a reminder that the so-lefty-it-hurtsPennsylvania Budget & Policy Center is holding its annual Budget Summit at the Harrisburg Hilton from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today.

If that sounds like more excitement than you can stand, not to worry. The whole shebang will air at 9 p.m. on PCN tonight.

That's it for now. Remember to register for state news alerts on Twitter. And we'll be back soon.

In His First ...... official broadside as a kinda-gubernatorial candidate, U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-6th, sent out a press
release this afternoon calling on state officials to create a bipartisan, independent oversight board to track the soon-to-arrive Stim cash. Gerlach also wants the state to put up a Web page so folks can track how the money is spent themselves.

Gerlach says the board's membership should be comprised of no more than one sitting, elected official from each party, and contain a majority of CPAs and auditors. Whoa ... can you imagine the hilarity that will ensure when those guys get together?

"Pennsylvania has
a sad history of powerful politicians mismanaging taxpayer dollars," Gerlach said in a statement.
"While I opposed this massive wasteful government spending bill, the
money is in the pipeline. We have a responsibility to the next
generation, who will be stuck paying for this trillion dollar spending
bill, to do everything we possibly can to ensure it isn't wasted, and
every dollar is accounted for."

In case you're playing along at home, Gerlach voted against The Stim because he's convinced it's a gigantic boondoggle that won't create jobs. He's also still stamping his feet over the (alleged) fact that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wouldn't allow any GOP input on the bill.

"This money is
only going to ‘stimulate' larger, unaffordable government, and punts
today's financial pain wholly onto future generations," Gerlach said, apparently reading from a rumpled script thrust into his hands by House GOP boss John Boehner. "It's wrong.
However, I don't believe opponents of this spending plan, like me, can
abdicate responsibility of its effects. We must account for every
single tax dollar spent to protect the financial and national security
of the next generation. I urge Harrisburg to act, now."

Our Thanks ...... to an alert colleague who directed our attention to an off-the-cuff remark that state Sen. Lisa Boscola,
D-Northampton, made during yesterday's budget hearing for the state Department of General Services.

There, DGS Secretary Jim Creedon told the Senate Appropriations Committee that his department was trying to cut down on the abuse of the state's vehicle fleet.

Creedon's conscience was apparently pricked when he was dusted by a car, bearing state government plates, that blew by him on Interstate 78 yesterday morning. The car, Creedon guessed, was traveling a zippy 85 to 90 MPH, the Patriot-News of Harrisburg reported.

That, and other revelations prompted committee member Boscola to quip that she also drives 85 mph.

"My parents don't like it very much," she said.

Revving into full damage-control mode, Boscola's spokesman said his boss was only kidding.

We'd be remiss, however, if we also didn't mention that Creedon didn't find himself in hot water. The Rendell administration apparatchik said he "punched in" the tag number of the offending state car on his Blackberry. Several state lawmakers are trying to ban texting-while-driving.

"I'm sure issues on cell phone use will come up. Texting will come up. Smoking will come up. But there's no resolution on any of them yet," Creedon later said in an explanation that was short on both mea and culpa.

On Tuesday, the two chambers rejected the AP's request for communications last year between registered lobbyists and the four floor leaders: Sen.
Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware; Sen. Bob Mellow, D-Lackawanna;
Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Greene; and Rep. Sam Smith, R-Jefferson.

The caucuses denied the requests last month. The AP then
appealed to House Parliamentarian Reizdan Moore and Senate
Secretary Mark Corrigan, the designated House and Senate
appeals officers.

Moore and Corrigan both found that lobbyist communications are not covered by the law's definitions of the types of "legislative records" that the public can get.

The AP argued that language barring access to correspondence between lawmakers and their constituents doesn't apply to lobbyists, because, as we all know, lobbyists actually come from planet Zygor-7 in the Alpha Centauri galaxy, wear human skin-suits to disguise their antennae, and therefore aren't really constituents.

Moore and Corrigan replied that if a document doesn't fit the definition of a record, then exceptions don't apply.

"Nowhere in (the) list of accessible legislative records
is found the mention of correspondence between members of
the Senate and registered lobbyists," Corrigan wrote.
"It would seem clear and unambiguous that it was not
the intention of the General Assembly to make such a general
class of records into accessible legislative records."

As a refresher, the 19 items listed in the law as legislative records
generally pertain to finances or provide documentation of
the chamber's meetings and decisions.

If legislator-lawmaker communications amount to financial
records, they would be available, as would
legislator-lawmaker communications in the hands of local
agencies or the state's executive branch agencies,
which are presumptively public, she said told the AP in an argument that initially made our head hurt until we read it more closely.

Then it made it hurt more..

The AP is not appealing the decisions to state Commonwealth Court, which is a shame because we generally find the AP to be quite an appealing bunch,

A Harrisburg Outfit ...... called Wilson Research Strategies is out today with a new assessment of the state's political environment.

And, shockah, they've concluded that Pennsylvanians are less confident about their financial situation than they were before the economy cratered. In fact, better than half think their personal situation will get worse before year's end.

But whom do they blame for their current predicament? Not the POTUS -- PA voters approve of him by a three-to-one margin. Instead, it looks like they're focusing their ire on Gov. Ed, citing a Quinnipiac poll from earlier this month where Rendell's overall approval rating was under 50 percent. In fact, much of the report focuses on how dissatisfied Pennsylvanians are with Rendell in general.

So, you ask, who has the prescription to cure the Commonwealth's ills?

Why, that'd be the Republican Party (as we found out once we finally scrolled all the way through to page 27 of the 31 page document). There, you'll find all sorts of data positing how popular the GOP is in the cities of Not-Philadelphia and Pittbsurgh. The report even includes a page covering the famed 8-Year Rule (ie: it'll be the GOP's turn to run the state come 2010)

These conclusions make even more sense when you look at the list of the Winston Research Group's officers. Scott Migli, the former executive director of the statewide GOP is its vice president.

We shall look forward to their next report concluding that the sun will rise in the East.

Gov. Ed Will Break The Internets ...... tomorrow as he takes to the Web to teach high school kids how to plan, present and implement a state budget. The one-hour class, using video conference technology, will involve students at 10 schools. It gets underway at 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning.It was not immediately clear whether Rendell plans a follow-up session that will teach the young'uns how to use a budget to ruin everyone's summer vacation.

Good Morning, Fellow Seekers.A happy Fat Tuesday to all of you. It's a little after 8 a.m. here at Capitol Ideas World Headquarters, and, if you're like us, you've already rendered yourself immobile by eating your own weight in Fasnachts. Lord knows, the only thing we love more than a captive audience is a captive audience speeding on a massive sugar rush produced by an unpronounceable regional delicacy.

With that in mind, let's get right into today's news, shall we? Click on through to the other side ...

"Since I do not know the facts, but only what I have read in the newspaper, on this state of the record, I believe it is up to Senator Burris to decide whether to resign.

“If there is an issue of perjury, then Senator Burris has the right to defend himself in any proceeding on that subject. If there is an issue on expulsion by action of the Senate after proceeding in the Senate Ethics Committee, then Senator Burris has a similar right to defend himself.
“Accordingly, on this state of the record, not knowing the specifics on the facts, I believe the decision on resignation is one for Senator Burris.”

House Minority Leader Sam Smith ...
... will call for changes in the make-up to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board this evening, Capitol Ideas has learned..In welcoming remarks given during of the 5th annual Pennsylvania Gaming Congress in Harrisburg, Smith, R-Jefferson, will call for the elimination of legislative appointees to the regulatory board.

Smith, of Punxsutawney, will propose allowing Gov. Ed Rendell appoint members to the 7-member board, and make them subject to a confirmation vote by the state Senate, Smith's spokesman, Steve Miskin, said today. That's the same procedure used to confirm cabinet and judicial appointees.

Doing so will "make the agency run more smoothly and help the public trust," Miskin said by ending what's known as a "qualified majority" on the board, where one member can hold up its proceedings "on a whim."

"Right now, you have a new industry and an agency that's been hobbled by problems, mistakes," Miskin said

Miskin said Smith's willing to give up his direct clout on the board "for the greater good," though we suspect Republicans would get no end of chuckles out of protracted confirmation fights in the Senate.

Those controversies have included the awarding of a license to accused perjurer and Mount Airy Resort CasinoResort owner Louis DeNaples.

"A Quakertown man serving in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's
recently deployed 56th Stryker Brigade was killed Saturday responding
to an explosive attack in Mushada, Iraq, military officials announced
today.

Staff Sgt. Mark C. Baum, 32, was wounded by small arms fire after
responding to a improvised explosive device attack with the quick
reaction force of the Phoenixville-based Detachment 1, Company B, 111th
Infantry, the military said. He was airlifted to Baghdad for medical
treatment and later died.

He is the first member of the 56th Stryker Brigade to be killed since
the unit deployed to Iraq last month for a nine-month assignment. He is
the 33rd member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard killed in
action in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Baum, a corrections officer at Bucks County Prison, is survived by his wife, Heather, and three young children."

Two Rendell Administration ...... cabinet nominees who have been waiting for months to get a confirmation vote in the state Senate
might now be headed for the final furlong.

Acting DEP Secretary John Hanger and acting Labor & Industry Secretary Sandi Vito have both filed amended financial disclosure documents with the state Ethics Commission. For those of you playing along at home, this is one of the Stations of the Cross that ruling Senate Republicans said the two apparatchiks had to complete before they'd allow a vote to go forward.

Based on the copies that were forwarded to us, it looks Hanger and Vito submitted their paperwork sometime last week. By law, they have to be available for public inspection for 10 days before the process can move forward.

Meanwhile ... we're not sure how far along Hanger and Vito are in the obligatory visits to all 50 senators, in which the two nominees must kiss the ... erm ... rings of each lawmaker. Traditionally, those visits must be completed before the Senate will hold a confirmation vote.

We'd love to be a fly on the wall when Hanger knocks on the door of a certain Energy & Environmental Resources Committee chairwoman. If it hasn't happened already, the potential for high theater is absolutely bottomless.

In case you're burning up with curiosity, you can download each ethics filing and peruse them yourselves. Just follow the linkage, kids.

Pennsylvania Will Allow ...... Mixed-Martial Arts competitions, the Department of State announced this afternoon.In case you're wondering exactly what that is, take a healthy dose of boxing, add in some martial arts, throw in a soupcon of Mad Max and World Wrestling Entertainment, and you'll sort of get an idea of what we're on about.

If you're still not entirely clear, check the video below. Anyone thought about taxing the bejeezus out of THIS to raise money for college kids?

The Owners Of The ...... Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection, the Associated Press reports this morning.The Sunday filing indicated that Philadelphia Media Holdings, which operates the two newspapers, has between $100 million and
$500 million in assets and liabilities in the same range. The company
said it will continue the normal operations of its newspapers,
magazines and online businesses without interruption during the
debt-restructuring process. In a story posted on its Web site Sunday,
the company says it has a debt load of $390 million."In the last
two years, we experienced the rare trifecta of a dramatic decline in
revenue, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and a
debt structure out of line with current economic realities," PMH boss Brian Tierney
said.Tierney said the company's goal was to bring its debt in
line with "the realities of the current economic and business
conditions."The company said it decided to turn to Bankruptcy Court after negotiating with its lenders for the last 11 months, the AP reported.The
filings reiterate that the newspaper company hopes to reconfigure its
debt rather than restructure its operations. The company was profitable
by one accounting measure last year, earning $36 million before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and excluding one-time
items. That figure is expected to be at least $25 million in 2009.Tierney
said in his statement that, in conjunction with its filing, the company
is seeking court approval of up to $25 million in debtor-in-possession
(DIP) financing. The proposed DIP financing, plus the cash flow from
operations, will ensure the company's ability to satisfy obligations
associated with its normal course of business, including wages and
benefits, as well as payment of post-petition obligations to vendors
under existing terms, the AP reported.To our friends at the Inky and Daily News, we can only say Stay Strong. We have some familiarity with newspapers in bankruptcy. So if you need to kvetch, you know where to find us.

The rest of today's news, which is marginally better than our opening gambit, starts after the jump.

Toying with our affections once more, AG Tom Corbett says the next round of Bonusgate arrests will "shock the conscience" because of the shedloads of taxpayer cash it involves. So when's that gonna happen? Don't hold your breath. Corbett says he has "no time schedule" for filing any new criminal charges.

We'll give you two guesses how psyched municipalities without police departments are about having to pay for state police coverage. First one doesn't count.

Helping you plan your Friday, Snarlen holds a media availability at 4:45 p.m. this afternoon down on North Front Street in the 'Burg. That comes in advance of the $250-a-head reception being thrown for him by a downtown law firm.

Speaking of which, Gov. Ed and Snarlen are in lovely Somerset, Pa., at 10 a.m. this morning to make an announcement about the status of the national Flight 93 Memorial there.

And we hate to break it to the PA Turnpike Commission, but "No" means "No."In an appearance before the House Appropriations Committee yesterday, TPC Vice Chair Timothy Carson said the Feds didn't really rejected the state's application to turn I-80 into a toll road last year. They had merely found that "they were unable to move the application forward at this time," he argued. Carson's comments prompted one newsroom wag to remark that, under those rules, all those girls who shot us down in high school hadn't really said "No." They were simply not ready to date us at that time.

And, finally, because the day wouldn't be complete without some pop music to get things going, here's Aussie songstress Kylie Minogue and "Come Into My World." You lucky people ...

That's it for now. We'll be back later with more news and updates. And remember to register for state news alerts on our Twitter page.

Apparently Reprising ...... his famous Fiery Nuclear Death Tour from 2006, Pennsylvania's former junior U.S. senator is traveling
the length and breadth of this great land of ours to scare the living bejeezus out of college kids.

"Santorum is passing through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a part of his college campus tour on which he describes to students what he believes are the dangers in not knowing what is going on in the Middle East.

“I talk to college students because I can have an intellectual conversation, and they usually don’t agree with me,” Santorum said. “I like to state my case (to students) and let them decide who to believe.”

Unfortunately, we have deeper concerns than the young'uns not knowing whom we're fighting: Namely, a complete absence of basic journalism skills. We had to wait until the sixth paragraph to find out that the U.S. is apparently at war with every single Muslim on the face of the Earth. And that really stinks because we love Cat Stevens and once got to interview Muhammad Ali:"Santorum also gave the audience a lecture on Islam. When he asked the audience who knew the difference between the Sunnis and the Shi’ites, three audience members raised their hands. Santorum said this proved his point – America has been at war with Islam for seven years and doesn’t know the two branches."

Finally, we learned from Our Rick that neither The Trail of Tears, nor the disastrous European colonization of Africa ever happened. And it turns out the Crusaders' conquest of Jerusalem was just a big rumor. That's because, according to the account in the Daily Nebraskan, "Santorum pointed out what he thought were the main differences between Christians and Muslims. Santorum said Christians, who believe in Jesus Christ, never governed or conquered anyone, but Mohammed was a warrior and killed people."

"The Lehigh Valley area’s U.S. House members secured $11.4 million in
spending projects in 2008 for
clients of the PMA Group, an embattled
lobbying firm under investigation for possible illegal campaign
contributions.

The “earmarks,” compiled by the government watchdog Taxpayers for
Common Sense, came as the five members — Democrats Patrick Murphy,
Allyson Schwartz, Tim Holden and Paul Kanjorski and Republican Jim
Gerlach — collected a combined $90,000 from the firm’s political action
committee and its employees and their family members in the 2007-2008
election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

They weren’t alone. The firm, whose offices were raided by the FBI
last year and plans to cease operations in March, according to reports,
gave $3.3 million to House members through its PAC and contributions
from employees and their family members between 2001 and 2008,
Congressional Quarterly reported Thursday.

In total, 104 lawmakers sponsored earmarks for the firm's clients in
fiscal year 2008, CQ reported. The only area lawmaker not to sponsor an
earmark for PMA last year was Rep. Charlie Dent, R-15th District.

Few
delegations collected more from PMA than Pennsylvania’s 19 members last
session. The PMA Group's founder, Paul Magliocchetti, is a former aide
to U.S. Rep. John Murtha, the dean of the Pennsylvania House delegation.

Nine of the state’s 11 Democrats and three of its eight Republicans
last cycle took contributions from the firm’s political action
committee.

Murphy, D-8th District, collected $30,750 from PMA's political
action committee and its employees and their family members last cycle,
more than any other Lehigh Valley area member. His spokesman said he
planned to give the contributions to charity.

Holden, for example, secured $3.2 million for a system to simulate
live combat from Fidelity Technologies, a PMA client. Murphy pushed for
a $1.6 million earmark for another PMA clinet, EDO Corp., to make a
“smart rack” weapons release systems that lets fighter pilots fire
various weapons or drop bombs at separate times."

Gov. Ed And Snarlen ...... will meet in Somerset County tomorrow to make an announcement about the Flight 93 Memorial there. The event takes place at 10 a.m. at the Somerset Historic Trust building on North Center Ave., Somerset.

And We Have A Winner.Step right up, Cole Hughes of Pittsburgh, you're the Steelers super-fan who just scored himself a 3-day
stay at a luxury resort in Arizona -- courtesy of Gov. Ed's Super Bowl bet.Hughes submitted the winning entry in a statewide essay contest set up by our fair Commonwealth and the Coyote State.Gov. Ed made the announcement during a ceremony at Heinz Field yesterday.Hughes' essay dealt with his experience as a young fan, when he insisted that his father take the lone ticket to the 1972 AFC Championship Game between the Steelers and the Miami Dolphins. It was only the third such game to be played after the NFL and the old AFL merged in 1970. And history tells us that the Dolphins went on to win 21-17 during the home match in Pittsburgh. But that's a pretty selfless act for a little kid. So a big Mazel Tov to Mr. Hughes. We recommend that he try the Official State Dish -- cactus -- while sojourning in the desert.

In testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, gaming board Chairwoman Mary DiGiacamo Colins told lawmakers that the regulatory agency canceled the probe for budgetary reasons, not because its efforts to investigate leaks had been made public.

"It's not a last-minute thing based on a disclosure by a reporter," DiGiacamo-Colins said in response from questions by Rep. Douglas Reichley, R-Lehigh. "It's something we've been looking at for a while. We put the kibosh on it."

On Tuesday, The Morning Call reported that the gaming agency had put out a request for bid on Jan. 21 seeking bids from private investigators interested in determining whether any current or former employees had violated a nondisclosure agreement.

The newspaper reported that the board canceled the offer on Feb. 6, the day The Morning Call asked under the state's expanded Right to Know law to see any document or contract related to the request. The Morning Call and other media have used named and unnamed sources for gaming board stories over the last 18 months.

In its Jan. 12 letter to five investigative firms, the gaming board sought price quotes for a probe to determine ''possible violations of PGCB employee Non-Disclosure Agreement'' by an ''Unknown number of current and/or former employees.''

The investigation was to last up to six months, according to the letter. The board sought quotes for personnel, including investigators, analysts and auditors, that routinely cost upwards of $200 per hour each.

Each employee of the gaming board, a regulatory agency that oversees Pennsylvania's slots industry, must sign a nondisclosure agreement barring him from talking about gaming board business.

Each company had responded to a contract offer for investigations in 2006 and remained on a list of potential vendors.

On Wednesday, DiGiacamo-Colins said the agency was deciding how to pursue the leaks when it was confronted by budgetary pressures. In response "we sent letters that said we were not hiring outside consultants."

Instead, the gaming board decided to use its own "internal affairs" office to investigate whether there had been any violations of non-disclosure agreements, she told lawmakers.

A Top Senate Republican ...
... has seen and raised Gov. Ed on his plan to legalize video poker to pay for financial aid to struggling
college students.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin, has rolled out a $145 million proposal that he says would benefit an additional 25,000 students who receive aid through the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.

But there’s a catch: the in-state schools that play ball would be required to limit their tuition hikes to the rate of inflation or risk losing their own financial aid from Harrisburg.

“It’s especially timely now because

Pennsylvania

taxpayers are hurting,” Piccola
said during a news conference in his Capitol office. “Not only are [people] not
able to send their kids to college, they’re not able to afford the taxes” that
support those schools.

Piccola’s proposal would apply to the 14 state-owned
schools, such as Kutztown University in Berks County; community colleges; the so-called state-related universities which include Pitt, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln Universities; and such “state-affiliated”
schools as the University of Pennsylvania.

Students who accept the money would be required to maintain a “C” average and graduate from school within four years.

“Call me old-fashioned, but we all got through school in four years and we worked,” Piccola said.

When he made his annual budget proposal to lawmakers earlier this month, Rendell said he could raise $550 million to increase aid for students at
state-related schools and community colleges by legalizing video poker at bars,
taverns and private clubs.

The administration’s proposal would allow people to apply for licenses to have as many five poker-machines in their establishments. State officials estimate there as many as 17,000 such machines in Pennsylvania.

Though the overall amount of funding included in Piccola’s
proposal is lower than Rendell’s, the suburban Harrisburg lawmaker said it would benefit
more students at more schools.

Piccola also claimed his proposal had a more sound financial foundation – the existing PHEAA grant program, and not a politically radioactive plan to expand gambling in the state, which is opposed by many lawmakers.

Piccola said this morning that he could raise $152 million through a number of cost-cutting measures, including a controversial $75 million film tax credit program for Hollywood moguls who make movies in the state.

Pennsylvania's Top Economic Development Official ... ... has defended the state's $35 million bailout for the Boscov's department store chain, saying it was
undertaken not to save the company, but the communities where they're located.

Acting Community and Economic Development Secretary George Cornelius acknowledged that the state's action had probably opened the door for other struggling businesses to seek state assistance, but "when they come to my door, they better have a compelling case that ... they're doing it for the people of this state."

Cornelius made his remarks during an annual budget hearing before the House Appropriations Committee. They came in response to questions from Rep. John Evans, an Erie Republican, who was seeking assurances that the state's investment in the iconic department store chain would be protected.

Administration officials have said the state would have first dibs on the company's real estate and inventory if Boscov's was unable to meet its loan obligations. This morning, Cornelius made the same argument to Evans.

"It's an acceptable risk," he said.

Cornelius, who hails from rural central Pennsylvania, bristled at the characterization of state assistance as a bail-out for Boscov's.

"I've been to malls where the anchor stores are closed, and it's like a ghost town," said Cornelius, who argued that vacant malls were an indicator of a community in economic decline.

"The benefits outweigh the risk," he said. "It was a sound judgment."

Evans, though, said he was worried that the state was "opening the floodgates" to businesses that might decide that taking public money was an easier course to salvation than making painful decisions about their operations.

"You have to wonder who will be next," he said.

While acknowledging those concerns, Cornelius retorted, "I don't engage in bail-outs. This has nothing to do with Boscov's. It's about helping the people in those communities. I don't do anything for a company. I do it for the community and the employees."

Two weeks ago, officials in Butler County removed the last impediment to the bailout, voting 2-1 to extend a loan to the Reading-based company after state officials convinced them that their pledge of future Community Development Block Grants from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development was safe.

Six counties with a strong Boscov's presence have been asked to pledge $5.83 million in future grants from HUD. Leaders in Blair, Cambria, Lackawanna, Lebanon and Schuylkill counties have also ponied up their share of the cash, now $5.83 million apiece.

Officials in Snyder County opted out last month. The cities of Reading, along with Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Atlantic City and Vineland, N.J., also are participating.

Chain scion Albert Boscov, the company's former chairman and CEO, and other family members are putting $53 million of their own equity into the proposal. Boscov's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last August.

The bailout is being financed through a program that allows governments to guarantee loans for economic development by using federal Community Development Block Grants.

The state must apply to the HUD for the money, DCED spokesman Steve Weitzman said. Weitzman said it's likely that Washington will take several months to rule on the application, but "we have every expectation that HUD will approve it."

Fresh Off His Hosting Duties ...... at Soul Train, new DCED Secretary George Cornelius has just told the House Appropriations Committee that: "I don't believe in throwing anyone or anything under the bus."

Welcome To The Apocalypse.Return with us, if you would, to the heady days of 2001-02 when state lawmakers engineered a now-infamous pension grab that fattened the retirements of lawmakers, state employees and teachers alike.

Anyone remember how its backers told us that there would be no financial repercussions to that massive act of avarice? Or how the state would never have to raise taxes to cover the cost of benefits?

Added bonus: a sharp increase in taxpayer subsidies to the two funds that underwrite pensions for teachers and state employees also looms because stock market losses will make a long-anticipated 2012 rate spike much more painful than they thought.

By the way, "sharp increase in taxpayer subsidies," means you'll pay higher school and local taxes. Just wanted to make that clear.

According to the AP, the value
of State Employees' Retirement System investments dropped 28.6 percent
in 2008, while Public School Employees' Retirement System investments
fell 29.7 percent.

In a mammoth act of understatement, Nicholas Maiale, chairman of the State Employees' Retirement System, told lawmakers that the funds' fiscal meltdown would represent a severe budgetary challenge for
the state.

The state employees' pension fund said the losses mean employer
contributions could approach 29 percent of payroll by 2012, far higher
than had been expected after its investments had generated impressive
returns in recent years. For most people enrolled in the State
Employees' Retirement System, the government is their employer. The
system's current employer contribution rate is 4 percent of payroll, the AP reported.

The teachers' pension fund said it projects its spike could exceed 28
percent for the 2012-13 year. If that occurs, the pain will be a serious hit to property taxpayers. The
current rate is 4.76 percent.

While we go check on the exchange rates for a pound of flesh, why don't you check out the rest of today's news. It starts, as always, after the jump.

Gov. Ed Will Announce ...... the winner of this year's Super Bowl essay contest during a ceremony at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh tomorrow at 3 p.m..

More astute readers may recall that Gov. Ed placed a friendly wager with his Arizona counterpart, with each state putting vacations on the line for one lucky fan.

So tomorrow we'll learn which rabid Steelers supporter has won a 3-night stay at the luxurious Wigwam Golf Resort and Spa;
two rounds on any of the resort's three, 18-hole golf courses; dinner
for two at a participating restaurant, and two seats at a regular
season home game for one of Arizona's major league sports teams, and
also the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL.

Good Morning, Fellow Seekers.It's the day after a federal holiday and crickets are chirping merrily in the official Capitol Ideas in-box.
So we're going to keep things short and sweet this morning while we wait for the caffeine to kick in.

What would we do without The Stim?Our Washington colleague, Josh Drobnyk, has the rundown this morning on the federal largess in store for the Keystone State. The massive federal package has already reinvigorated the newspaper business by giving us an endless array of stories -- so it's got that much going for it.

State lawmakers are eyeing limits on spending by the Delaware River Port Authority. And you thought state government ran through money? Whew ... this lot makes the General Assembly look like amateurs, its critics charge.

A new, super-secret grand jury that's so mysterious that it's in The Patriot-News, starts meeting in Harrisburg today to (allegedly) investigate public corruption. This is expected to be AG Tom Corbett's first step toward charging Republicans just as soon as he's elected governor.

Apparently, the state needs to make some fixes to its Clean & Green program at the Dept. of Agriculture. We'd like to link to it, but Capitolwire insists on charging its customers for its content, so we can't. Suffice to say it's a compelling read about an important state program that no one has ever heard of before today.

What Goes On:Budget hearings get started in the House Appropriations Committee today. All meetings are in the House Majority Caucus Room, 140 Main Capitol.Here's the schedule:10 a.m.: Briefing on the state's economic outlook.11 a.m.: Dept. of Revenue1 p.m.: State Pension System2 p.m.: TreasuryHearings start in the state Senate on Feb. 23.In The Blogosphere.Keystone Politicsgets a facelift; GrassrootsPA on speculation about the new U.S. Attorney for the Middle District (hint rhymes with Schmis Schmasey); One of the 2 Political Junkies will be on a panel in Pittsburgh this weekend; In case you were wondering when PAWatercooler's collective head officially exploded, we think today might be the day; Above Average Jane has Allyson Schwartz on The Stim; NorCo Exec John Stoffa is running for re-election, say Bernie O'Hare (you can all exhale now); Wonkette succeeds in making the G-7 fun again; Andrew Sullivan does not find Hugo Chavez amusing;

On The Capitol Ideas iPod This Morning.It's cold. We're officially sick of winter. We need some musical sunshine. From 1992, here's Primal Scream and "Movin' On Up." Yes, it really does sound a whole lot like "Sympathy for the Devil," doesn't it?

That's it for now. We'll update today as events warrant. Remember to register for state news alerts on our Twitter page.

Turns Out An Eagle-Eyed ...... Rendell administration aide made
the difference this week between the state qualifying for a giant
chunk
of federal stimulus money and losing it.

Policy Czar Donna Cooper was paging through the massive $789 billion package when she
noticed language barring the state from claiming education money in the
bill because it hadn't passed a new in-state adequacy formula (don't
ask) by July 1. Pennsylvania's legislation went onto the books by July
11 -- 10 days after the deadline.

So the administration called Pennsylvania's two U.S. senators -- Arlen Specter (the
older, crankier Republican one) and Bob Casey (the younger, Democratic,
more soft-spoken one), as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

And then faster than you could say "American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act," the language was struck from the conference report, Rendell
spokesman Chuck Ardo said today.

The change meant that Pennsylvania could access hundreds of millions of
dollars in federal education subsidies and essentially use the money to
balance the state budget.

But education advocates say they're worried that that using federal money earmarked for education for budget-balancing purposes might pose a problem when the stimulus money goes away in two years.

"You have to remember that we only have the stimulus money for two years," he said. "We don't want to put districts in a situation where, two years from now, after giving them an increase, we don't have the money for them."

Allwein stressed that his group was still analyzing the stimulus data.

State Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, who chairs the chamber's Finance Committee and is a member of the Senate Education Committee, offered a similar admonition.

"It's a sticky Band-Aid," he said. "It'll cover the wound now, but it'll be very painful when we rip it off three years from now.. We don't want to be pulled into the fiscal situation that Washington is in. And that's what's happening. I have a real problem with having to deal with a structural deficit every year and that's what's waiting for us."

In Case You Were Wondering ...... what sort of Stimulus-related apples are gleaming in the eyes of Pennsylvania's mayors, our colleague, Matt Assad, has directed us to an absolutely indispensable site called StimulusWatch.

All told, the cities of Penn's Woodshave submitted a $4.5 billion list of so-called "shovel-ready" projects that they want to pay for with the pennies that Washington is shortly going to shower upon them.

You can search by city and state, and even vote on which projects you think are the most worthy of public funding. We understand the whole kit and kaboodle was put together by a bunch of academics who are strenuously trying to avoid any appearance of partisanship.

But then again, asking people to vote on projects kind of speaks for itself. The list of Lehigh Valley projects on the link above is alphabetical, so Allentown and Bethlehem lead the list.

In Allentown, for instance, there's an $11 million request to do "streetscape improvements" from Hamilton Boulevard to City Line. The city says it would create 14 jobs. The readers of StimulusWatch, however, give it an overwhelming thumbs-down.

And in Bethlehem, there's a $25 million proposal to build a 1,000-car garage and "multi-modal transportation center" at BethWorks. City officials say it would create 150 jobs. You give it a big-time thumbs down.

The Pennsylvania-Centric Details ...
... of the $789 billion economic stimulus bill finally became available late yesterday. Gov.Ed held a
hastily arranged conference call with reporters to let us all know that the state can expect around $16 billion from Washington over the next two years. Final Congressional approval is expected today.

$1 billion for highway and bridge funding in the state distributed
through PennDOT and $300 million distributed through either cities or
metropolitan planning organizations.

$4 billion in Medicaid funding to help cover health care for the poor.

$400 million for public transit.

$4 million for local law enforcement efforts.

Rendell told reporters yesterday that he expects to be able to fill most of a projected budget
shortfall created by a smaller-than-expected direct aid to the state by
using education funds in the bill. Rendell said the cash should create about 125,000 jobs in the state.

So just how important is this largess from Washington?

Pretty darn.

At last count, 45 states were facing budget deficits, and most, if not all, have created Stim-shaped holes in their budget that they've been hoping Washington will fill. The coming budget cycle will be "horrific" for most states, one expert said.

Pennsylvania is no exception. As regular readers are no doubt aware, the state now faces a $2.3 billion budget
hole for the fiscal year that ends on June 30. Some in Harrisburg
believe that figure could balloon to as much as $5 billion over two
years.

The federal aid to states is an "issue of massive
importance to state governments across the country," said Chris
Whatley, the director of the Washington D.C. office of the Council of
State Governments.

States "have been proceeding on the assumption that [the stimulus]
is not coming and hoping that it would," as they've formulated their
budgets, Whatley said. California, for instance, recently came to a
budget accord that anticipates $10 billion in stimulus aid.

The stimulus "doesn't take away the pain that states are feeling but without it, it would cause some real pain," Whatley said.

Ironically, the biggest challenge for states dealing with Washington's generosity, is figuring out how to use the money once it arrives.

That's because all of
the programs included in the massive stimulus bill have strict
requirements about how the money can spent.

The Medicaid cash, for instance, hinges on states' eligibility requirements.

Squeezed by lean budgets, many states tightened their eligibility
requirements or shed people from the rolls altogether. But now, with
millions of dollars on the line, "there's an immediate challenge to
change those" requirements, Whatley said.

Another example -- a $4.2 billion energy fund allowing states to pay
for weatherization of homes and other energy efficiency measures. To
qualify for the money, states have to have laws on the books
"decoupling" their utility rate structure, which means that charges
have to be based on some other measure than consumption -- which is the
way it's structured now, Whatley said. Only 10 states have done so
already.

A Group Of House Republicans ...
... say they want to close a "revolving door" at the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

Legislation being drafted by Rep. Rob W. Kauffman, R-Cumberland, would
extend the limits on when former board employees and officials could go
to work for the casino industry, give the state attorney general the
power to go after violators, and impose stiff penalties on
rule-breakers.

"It's a critical issue that we must address," Kauffman said at a
Capitol news conference this morning. Kauffman has not formerly
introduced the legislation, but is now circulating a memo seeking
backers.

Pennsylvania's existing gaming law already imposes a bans board
officials and employees from taking an industry job for one year after
they leave their state government position.

But on this morning, Kauffman and other House Republicans accused the Gaming Board of ignoring those rules.

They say the agency has sidestepped those requirements by claiming that
the state Supreme Court, and not the board, has the sole authority to
regulate the activities of board lawyers who go to work for the
industry.

"From our point of view, it's very clear," said Rep. Michael Vereb,
R-Montgomery. "They're [the gaming board] looking at it through
beer goggles ... we want to clear up the vision."

To illustrate their point, the lawmakers pointed to a former top gaming
regulator named Kevin C. Hayes, who left his post at the board in 2008,
and three months later began working as a lawyer-lobbyist for a firm
representing the Mohegan Sun at Poconos Down casino in northeastern
Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Park casino in lower Bucks County.

According to published reports, Hayes is one of at least four board
lawyers who quit their state jobs to go to work for the casino
industry. A board spokesman said such occurrences are commonplace.

In an interview with the Times-Tribune of Scranton, Hayes said he was a
"Pennsylvania lawyer practicing law," and abided "by the rules of
professional conduct established by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court."

Former board Chairman Tad Decker, for instance, represents the Mt. Airy
Casino Resort in the Poconos and the planned Sugarhouse Casino in
Philadelphia. In interviews, Decker has said he is "walled off" from
that part of his firm.

Kauffman's proposal would bar casino applicants of their "affiliates"
from employing any former board member for two years after he or she
leaves office; and impose a similar one-year ban on a rank-and-file
board employee or contractor. Violators would have to terminate the
offending employee and pay a fine into the state Gaming Fund equal to
the salary or compensation received by that person.

With lawmakers expected to consider legislation that would legalize
video poker to pay for financial aid to college students, lawmakers
"must ensure that we don't have a flood of lawyers going from the
gaming board to ... the industry," said Rep. Doug Reichley, R-Lehigh,
who also appeared at the news conference.

In an e-mail, Gaming Board spokesman Doug Harbach stuck with the "courts-control-it" interpretation when it comes to the activities of lawyer-lobbyists. Citing lots of complicated case law, Harbach said "the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has been very clear that
the practice of law in the Commonwealth is regulated by the Supreme
Court and not the Legislature."

Today we learn that a clear majority (54-37 percent) of Pennsylvanians approve of The Stim, and a clear majority (59-26 percent) think the new POTUS is doing a good job handling the economy. In addition, nearly two-thirds of state voters (63-22 percent) say President Obama is doing a good job overall.

Oddly, however, 61 percent of voters say they don't think The Stim will help them personally. Support is marginally higher among Democrats (48-45 percent) than Republicans (75-21 percent against). Young voters are the least pessimistic, but even they say (52-45 percent) that they don't expect to benefit personally from it. That's pretty much true across the income spectrum -- even among those making less than $50,000 a year, who are supposed to benefit directly from the tax cuts included in the package.

"Pennsylvania voters give President Obama high marks, and they support his stimulus package for the economy, but they don't think it will help their personal financial situation, which almost half describe as not so good or poor," Quinny pollster Clay Richards said in a statement. "Even young voters and lower income voters don't see a connection between the stimulus package and their financial future."

See, now if only the White House had listened to our suggestion to drop bales of cash from low-flying aircraft ... the poll numbers might have been much different.

By the way, Quinny pollsters were out in the field from Feb. 2 to Feb. 5, where they harassed 1,490 Pennsylvania voters.The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

We Are Reliably Informed ...... that state Rep. Craig Dally, R-Northampton, is mulling a run for Northampton County judge. This is developing. Dally did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment.

And as we used to say in our native New England, there's no shockah here when it comes to Gov. Ed's proposal to let counties add an extra 1 percent to the state sales tax: nearly seven out of 10 respondents (69-28 percent) oppose the proposal.

Opinion is pretty consistent in Philly and Allegheny County, where the sales tax could rise to as much as 8 percent under Rendell's proposal, Quinny pollsters found. And, surprise, Republicans hate it (75-25 percent); Democrats are lukewarm (62-34 percent) and Independents are none-too-psyched either (73-25 percent).

On the other hand, state voters don't have much of a problem with taxing vice: more than two-thirds back boosting the cigarette tax by a dime a pack (67-28 percent) and nearly an equal number say they dinnae have a problem (says Uncle Angus McFayden O'Capitol Ideas) with legalizing video poker gambling to send college kids back to college where they belong.

"Pennsylvania's weak economy takes a toll on Gov. Rendell, who gets a negative score for the way he is handling the economy," Quinnipiac pollster Clay Richards said in a statement that probably contained words he once uttered more or less in order.

"But voters split right down the middle in their approval of the way Rendell is handling his new budget," Richards said -- but you probably figured that out on your own.

Quinny pollsters interviewed 1,490 Pennsylvania voters from Feb. 4 to Feb. 9. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage
points.

A Delegation ...... from the PA League of Cities and Municipalities just held a press conference in the Rotunda to call for passage of The Stim. And we were there to capture the moment on (digital) film. And yes, that's Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan.

Callahan and the other local leaders called on Congress to pass the stimulus bill and for Congress to restore $1 billion in funding for "Community Development Block Grants" that underwrite local housing and economic projects, such as the state-funded bailout of the Boscov's department store chain.

The $1 billion for the grants was included in the House-passed version of the bill, but was not included in the Senate version, Callahan said.

"We would urge the House and Senate to move immediately to restore that funding," he said.

In an interview after the news conference, Callahan, a Democrat, said he'd grown frustrated by the increasingly partisan tone on Capitol Hill over the stimulus package.

The White House ...... has released the details of VP Joe Biden's trip to Central PA tomorrow. Biden and Gov. Ed will hold a 2:10 p.m. presser at the Route 34 bridge in Carlisle, Cumberland County.Biden, who's been in Europe frightening our enemies with exceedingly long stories about his Irish boyhood in Scranton and Wilmington, and, for all we know, County Mayo, has returned to the U.S. to take up the administration's stimulus cudgel. Expect plenty of talk about roads and bridges and ... Irish people.

Gov. Ed will hold a 12 p.m. press conference in the Governor's Reception Room to talk about the expected Senate vote on The Stim today. We[re expecting much wailing and gnashing of teeth -- which is only appropriate when you consider that Rendell is chairman of the National Governors Association, and thus has to make noise on behalf of 49 other governors.

Not to be outdone, Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, who's the current prez of the PA League of Cities, will hold a 3 p.m. newser in the Capitol Rotunda to talk about the local impact of The Stim.

As we pointed out this morning, the most recent iteration of the $827 bill up for consideration by the Senate cuts about $40 billion in direct aid to states. In PA, that's about a $1 billion hole over two years. And Gov. Ed's FY 09-10 budget depends on $2.4 billion in federal aid this year to make ends meet.

You Can Stop Wondering Now.Former LG Bill Scranton Jr. will not seek the GOP nomination for governor in 2010 -- or any other office, for that matter.

As recently as December's Pennsylvania Society, the scion of the Electric City was said to be mulling a return to electoral politics, but he pretty much shut the door on that Monday.

"I’m flattered but I
have no plans to do so and no intentions of doing so. I am pretty much
on the sidelines. I have had very good luck in having been able to run
for [high state] office," in 1978, 1982, 1986 and 2006. "I have been
there, done that. It’s other people’s turn now," he told Capitolwire.

Scranton also said he believes "Republicans will be missing the boat if they are not very,
very strong on the issue of fiscal reform, as well as ethics reform, in
Harrisburg."

... is set to vote today on its $827 billion version of the Obama administration's economic stimulus plan that would reinvigorate the U.S. economy by ... erm ... doing some things that we're not sure we entirely understand, but we do know it has something to do with Pell Grants.

Last night, senators voted more or less along party lines to approve a cloture motion (from the Latin meaning, "Arlen Specter has finally made up his mind."), thus clearing the way for today's expected action.

And, of course, Republicans are cheezed off at Pennsylvania's senior United States senator for supporting a plan that they say will saddle the nation with debt until the Earth plunges in the sun. Hardcore GOPers, asked for their alternative, muttered something about tax cuts -- because those have worked so well up 'til now.

In a briefing with reporters on Monday at the Paragon Centre in South Whitehall Township, Lehigh County,
Specter defended his decision to help craft and promote the compromise
that paved the way for the scaled-back Senate package.

''I think it is imperative that there be some action,'' he said. ''After paring out $110 billion, I think we have
made very substantial cuts, and I think it is the best that can be done
under the circumstances.''

Now, here's the part you need to be concerned about:

The Senate version of the stimulus bill trims about $40 billion in direct aid to states, including Pennsylvania, that are struggling with ballooning budget deficits. Our fair commonwealth, more astute readers may recall, currently faces a year-end gap of $2.3 billion that could grow to as much as $5 billion over two years.

It wasn't entirely clear this morning how the cuts would impact Gov. Ed's $29 billion budget for FY 2009-2010, which relies on $2.4 billion in federal aid to pay for programs. We understand that it could mean a losd of about $1 billion in federal help over two years, but we're still trying to nail that down. If there's someone on Appropriations staff who can shed light on that, we'd appreciate a heads-up.

... are probably aware by now that Gov. Ed's $29 billion budget for 2009-2010 relies on $3.5 billion worth of federal stimulus money over the next two years to help make ends meet.

And with 45 states now facing budget deficits, it's probably also no surprise that governors across this great land of ours are sitting at home dreaming up ways to spend whatever pennies Washington showers upon them.

So, with that in mind, here's a quick Mousketeer roll call of governors who are backing and opposed to the stim. We should probably note that even the governors who are opposed to Washington's largess aren't dumb enough to say "no" to piles of free cash, so you can make of that what you will.

By the way, we'd be utterly remiss if we didn't admit that the grunt work for all this data was put in by our colleagues from Capitolbeat, the national association of state government reporters. It's a fine group of people who are doing great and important work.Some information also comes from Stateline, an inexhaustible resource for those of us who cover state government.